Tahiti on the Paul Gauguin

My wife and I will be traveling on the Paul Gauguin in early May and
would be interested in hearing any reactions from people who have
recently taken that cruise. I would be particularly interested in
comments about shore excursions, dining, and things to do in any of the
ports. Thanks.

wrote in message
ups.com...
My wife and I will be traveling on the Paul Gauguin in early May and
would be interested in hearing any reactions from people who have
recently taken that cruise. I would be particularly interested in
comments about shore excursions, dining, and things to do in any of the
ports. Thanks.

The Bora Bora Off Road Adventure is great fun! A bit hair raising but very
safe -- the drivers are experienced. And the views are exquisite.

The best cruise we have done so far.

Segue

wrote:
My wife and I will be traveling on the Paul Gauguin in early May and
would be interested in hearing any reactions from people who have
recently taken that cruise. I would be particularly interested in
comments about shore excursions, dining, and things to do in any of the
ports. Thanks.

I am much more interested in knowing HOW you've come to choosing
the Paul Gauguin cruise rather than one of the Princess cruises in
the same region. Because you're French? Canadian French?

As you may or may not know, Paul Gauguin cruises had gone out of
business -- and had been sold to another company. I thought that
was because of its inability to compete with the Princess cruises which
is certainly an excellent cruise line for the French Polynesia region.

-- Bob.

On 17 Feb 2006 09:06:48 -0800, "Reef Fish"
wrote:

As you may or may not know, Paul Gauguin cruises had gone out of
business -- and had been sold to another company. I thought that
was because of its inability to compete with the Princess cruises which
is certainly an excellent cruise line for the French Polynesia region.

Hi Everyone,

As usual our anonymous blowhard is all wet. What else is new? Have
you noticed that the blowhard trolls are always anonymous? :+)
Nothing could be further from the truth as far as the Paul Gauguin is
concerned. I just had 26 delightfully happy cruisers return from
sailing on the Paul Gauguin. She remains my favorite ship. The Paul
Gauguin was sold to another company but is still operated and marketed
by Radisson Seven Seas as it always has been since it was built. She
is under a long-term contract with Radisson Seven Seas Cruises.

Best regards,
Ray
LIGHTHOUSE TRAVEL
800-719-9917 or 805-566-3905
http://www.lighthousetravel.com

Ray Goldenberg wrote:
On 17 Feb 2006 09:06:48 -0800, "Reef Fish"
wrote:

As you may or may not know, Paul Gauguin cruises had gone out of
business -- and had been sold to another company. I thought that
was because of its inability to compete with the Princess cruises which
is certainly an excellent cruise line for the French Polynesia region.

Hi Everyone,

As usual our anonymous blowhard is all wet. What else is new? Have
you noticed that the blowhard trolls are always anonymous? :+)

"Reef Fish" has been posting by that name, long before spammer
Ray Goldenberg started his SPAMMING career in ngs. "Reef FIsh is the
ONE
and ONLY "Reef Fish" in the entire history of google's archives since
1981.
Even your imbecil twin Dick Goldhaber know my name.

If you're not such a spamming moron, go to google's new "view profile"
feature, and see that within less a year, the folks in the PROFESSIONAL
groups of sci.stat.* not only know my full name, my title of "Dr.",
where I had taught as Full Professor, and enough information about
me to be able to write a biography of the ng's "Reef Fish" based on
what's in google, in posts over the years.

Nothing could be further from the truth as far as the Paul Gauguin is
concerned. I just had 26 delightfully happy cruisers return from
sailing on the Paul Gauguin. She remains my favorite ship.


The Paul Gauguin was sold to another company

Wasn't that what I said? I WAS in Tahiti when I learned of that old
news!

but is still operated and marketed by Radisson Seven Seas

Noe Schitt Sherlock. Did I say it wasn't operating? Couldn't
you infer from the fact that the OP said s/he was using Paul
Gauguin in May that it is operating? You MORON.

I was asking WHY the choice over Princess.

I haven't the reply from the OP yet. And Ray popped his ugly
head to proclaim 26 happy customers. I take that to mean
the OP fell for Ray's SPAMS and was dooped into booking
Paul Gauguin cruises without knowing WHY.

I have seen or met thousands of delightfull happy customers on
the Tahitian Princess over the years, and each ship could hold
only several hundred at a time. :-)

How about YOU Ray Goldenberg, who had conned 26 customers
into the inferior cruise line tell us WHY Paul Gauguin is prefered
over the Princess Line? Because Paul Gauguin gave you
better commission than the Princess Line? Any other reason?

Best regards,
Ray

BOYCOTT BUSINESSES THAT RUDELY ADVERTISE IN
USENET DISCUSSION GROUPS

BOYCOTT CRETINS THAT RUDELY ADVERTISE IN
USENET DISCUSSION GROUPS

-- Bob.

Too all readers of this group-- I regret the fact that an innocent
question of mine spawned this kind of vitriolic nonsense. When I asked
for information about the Paul Gauguin from people who had recently
cruised on it, I did not expect that I would get a post from somebody
who seemed more interested in hawking Princess cruises and who seemed
to think that asking somebody whether they were French or French
Canadian was a reasonable reply. For the record, I'm not; nor did I
book a cruise on the Paul Gauguin because I was "dooped" (I assume he
means "duped") by any of Ray Goldenberg's posts. I booked a cruise on
that line because I had heard from many people that it was a superior
ship, and its itinerary matched my needs. If there is anybody out there
who is still bothering to read this thread and has information relevant
to my original question, I would be interested in hearing their
response, but I would hope that people who are more interested in
making some point for reasons of their own would refrain from replying.

wrote:
Too all readers of this group-- I regret the fact that an innocent
question of mine spawned this kind of vitriolic nonsense.

There was no vitriolic nonsense, only simple questions on CRUSING
until Ray Goldenberg showed with HIS gratuitous attack of me AND
his mention of his 26 happy customers (another form of SPAM) which
did not answer my question!

When I asked
for information about the Paul Gauguin from people who had recently
cruised on it, I did not expect that I would get a post from somebody
who seemed more interested in hawking Princess cruises

That was YOUR erroneous assumption on a simple question of
opinion. I was very pleased with all of my Tahiti Princess cruises,
but if I know of some reasons I hadn't known before that made the
Gauguin line more attractive, I would be the first to try it! I have
taken 16 cruises in the past two years which included three
different cruise lines, even the one named HAL hawked by you-
know-who.

and who seemed
to think that asking somebody whether they were French or French
Canadian was a reasonable reply.

That was the reply to MY question most often heard, and also the
reason most often heard from people who chose NOT to use Paul
Galguin is ship because it's used mostly by the French Polynesian
locals who DO speak French. I wasn't replying to YOUR question,
which seem odd AFTER you have already booked the cruise --
why didn't you ask those questions BEFORE. I was merely
asking my own questions before I consider whether I would use
it myself or not. You are a complete unknown in this group, or
any other ng. You have posted 33 posts the past 6 years, more
in rec.travel.use-canada and math groups then rec.travel.cruises.

For the record, I'm not; nor did I
book a cruise on the Paul Gauguin because I was "dooped" (I assume he
means "duped") by any of Ray Goldenberg's posts.

That was a more innocent typo than your "Too" in "Too all readers".
It was more a Freudian slip on my part thinking of those wha are
"stoopid" enough to be "dooped" by Ray, from the fact that YOUwe g
didn't reply and HE showed up bragging about his customers ,
attacking me, and not provide ANY INFO for comparison purposes
other than his 26 happy customers. That's why I said there are
thousands of happy customers who post in this group about their
Tahitian Princess trips. I don't recall a single person raving about
Paul Gauguin.

A google search for "Paul Gauguin cruise" in rtc since Jan 2004 had
only 26 hits, beginning with the present thread.

Next two were Ray's spams "Hi Everyone, I have this press release..."
and more and more Ray Goldenberg spamming.

On the "Best of the Best" thread mentioning Gauguin, you get Karen
complaining about Dick (who else) being a "nuisance" and
Chrissy echoing "Dick truly a nutcase"

More spamming by Ray Goldenberg.

Finally a "Cruise Review on "Best of the Best" ..." and it turned
out to be a review of a Caribbean cruise.

The other thread were more about RSSC (Radisson's ships) which
included a mention of their latest purpose of the Gauguin, than
anything about the Gauguin ship or cruise itself.

Get the picture? I seriously doubt it. If you had the brains to
use
google, you found have found all of this and the vitual ABSENCE
of posters talking about Paul Gauguin except Ray's SPAMS.

When I did the SAME search changing the ship to "Tahiti Princess"
from Jan 2004 to now, there were only THREE threads, two with
posts by me and one by John on "charter flights to tahiti"

When I carelessly use the same keyword without putting "Tahiti
Princess" in quote, there were 60 hits, again featuring Ray's spams
and threads by others talking about Alaskan cruises, Star Princess,
and every Princess ship under the sun that are NOT about Tahiti
cruises or the "Tahiti Princess".

So, there was a virtual ABSENCE of discussion about cruising the
French Polynesia, let alone any COMPARISON of the two
cruise lines.

Which was the reason I ASKED how you came to choose Paul
Gauguin!!!


I booked a cruise on
that line because I had heard from many people that it was a superior
ship, and its itinerary matched my needs.

A gullible sort -- Leap before you Look. Superior in what way? How
did you know it's superior to the Tahiti Princess? What are your
needs?


If there is anybody out there
who is still bothering to read this thread and has information relevant
to my original question, I would be interested in hearing their
response, but I would hope that people who are more interested in
making some point for reasons of their own would refrain from replying.

You are what is known as a "Clueless Newbie" in the Netiquette
Lessons offered by Rev. Bob "Bob" Crispen.

This is a DISCUSSION group. Only a Clueless Newbie would ask
question and flame someone for asking a relevant question (which
I explained WHY above).

I am still, and all the more interested in hearing from ANYONE who
had been on BOTH the Tahiti Princess and the Paul Gauguin
crusing the French Polynesia, if such a person exists in this group.

That would at least be the OPINION from one who has been on
BOTH and can comment on the COMPARISON ot what's good,
bad, or ugly about those two ships.

Meanwhile, markh whoever you are, get a little USENET
experience (33 posts in 6 years do not exactly make you an
informed user), learn a little Netiquette, and learn your post be
one of DISCUSSION, with some concrete INFO to offer,
other than asking your own questions.

-- Bob, who has been around USENET much longer than
SPAMMER Ray Goldenberg.

wrote in message
oups.com...
| Too all readers of this group-- I regret the fact that an innocent
| question of mine spawned this kind of vitriolic nonsense. When I asked
| for information about the Paul Gauguin from people who had recently
| cruised on it, I did not expect that I would get a post from somebody
| who seemed more interested in hawking Princess cruises and who seemed
| to think that asking somebody whether they were French or French
| Canadian was a reasonable reply. For the record, I'm not; nor did I
| book a cruise on the Paul Gauguin because I was "dooped" (I assume he
| means "duped") by any of Ray Goldenberg's posts. I booked a cruise on
| that line because I had heard from many people that it was a superior
| ship, and its itinerary matched my needs. If there is anybody out there
| who is still bothering to read this thread and has information relevant
| to my original question, I would be interested in hearing their
| response, but I would hope that people who are more interested in
| making some point for reasons of their own would refrain from replying.
|

Hi Mark, ignore Bob aka Reef Fish. Most of us have killfiled him and only
see him when someone adds his response to their posts.

Congrats on picking Radisson for your cruise. They are outstanding. Best
cruise line I have taken so far and we are booked on Seven Seas Navigator
this spring. We were booked on PG last year but had to cancel so my
comments will have to be second hand from our friends who did get there. We
had family things that forced us to change our vacation.

As for dining, which was your first question, Radisson has open seating with
a restaurant that holds all possible guests at once if necessary. Window on
dining times changes based on times in port. You can be seated alone or
with others, your preference every night. We usually travel with friends so
we chose to eat at a table for four. We always requested same waitstaff so
they knew our preferences. The wines poured gratis with dinner are OK to
good. The very expensive wine list is excellent, but we've never used it
except one night for an anniversary where we wanted to splurge. If you like
something poured one night and don't like the varietals offered another
night, you can ask to substitute what you liked previously. No problem. By
the way, after dinner drinks are also gratis in the dining room.

As for shore excursions, I found Radisson to offer the best deal for the
money and we have occasionally used their excursions rather than book our
own. We had researched which ones we wanted in Tahiti. Our friends who
went absolutely loved the off road adventure in Moorea, and splurged on the
ATV-Waverunner trip in Bora Bora. The motu beach day was also a real
highlight for them, and it's included, so no excursion to a motu is
necessary. Their pics of the trip and enthusiasm were contagious and a
group of us are probably booking an '07 trip. They are hooked enough to go
back with us.

Back to Radisson, we absolutely love their service, and the uncrowded nature
of the trip. We love the casual atmosphere and the absence of the
mass-market induced hype to spend, spend, spend. Tips are included. There
are many cocktail parties and we spend little other than excursion dollars
on board. We chose to do 1 liter of premium liquor per couple. We had a
single malt, our friends had Tanqueray. They made the martinis before
dinner and we did the after dinner "nightcaps" with the scotch. Ask your
steward to stock the fridge with whatever you want. There's no need to keep
sodas you don't drink. Bottled water is also gratis. Take what you want
when you go ashore. They will replenish it.

Have breakfast in your cabin one day. It's awesome. They really go all out
with the service and set up your table with whatever you ordered. Our
friends did say that in Tahiti the choices were a bit more limited at dinner
than in Europe but the fish and seafood were excellent. We have found that
depending on where the cruise is, the choices vary somewhat due to shipping
problems. We are big seafood eaters so have been very satisfied with the
options. If you are strictly meat and potatoes, you may find the variety
lacking.

Any questions about the Radisson experience, please respond. We will ask
our friends if you have specific questions. As for Princess, it's a
definite step down. After Radisson, the only thing better is Sea Dream,
Seabourne and Silversea.

Enjoy your trip,
Diane

wrote in message
oups.com...
Too all readers of this group-- I regret the fact that an innocent
question of mine spawned this kind of vitriolic nonsense.

No need to apologize, Mark.. Not your fault..When I saw Ray Goldenberg's
post, I knew to whom you were referring.
Just ignore his remarks and put him in your killfile as I and many others on
this group have.
There are many very nice people on this group who are willing to share their
experiences, ask and answer questions, so do not let a few trolls that we
unfortunatley have, deter you from joining in.

We once booked a cruise on the Tahitian Princess for Tahiti but had to
cancel because of emergency surgery..I will be very interested in hearing
about your experiences on Paul Gauguin when you return...It may help us
make a decision as to which cruise line to take, as we have not ruled out
the plans to go to Tahiti.

You will get sensible responses, such as the one from Diane F, so hang in
there!
Have a great cruise in May and don't forget to post a review!

--Jean

Man, how do we get RID of these hotheads who lay in wait just to jump
down someone's throat! It sure defeats the purpose of someone asking
LEGITIMATE questions, and gets instead a spewing of venom from those
guys.

I've not done the Gauguin, but did do the Tahitian Princess a couple of
years ago. I had also been on that SAME ship on a previous trip to
Tahiti when it was a Renaissance ship! They didn't even change the
bedspreads...ha!

The motu picnic whereby you are seated at tables in a lagoon was
awesome. Another motu experience was when they cooked breadfruit and
tapioca over an open fire, and made pouisson cru (sp?) from freshly
caught tuna. Served it all on freshly shucked banana leaves.

Snorkeling is NOT to be missed. And a general tour around Tahiti
itself was surprisingly fun. Make sure you look for the boxes that
look like mail boxes on the side of the road in front of the
residences...they are literally bread boxes...fresh loaves delivered!

Go see how vanilla is grown and buy some powdered vanilla to sprinkle
in your vanilla ice cream back home, and go see what copal is...go to a
pearl farm and see how these beauties are made.

And do go to the market in Tahiti as it is remarkable...go at the
beginning to pick up inexpensive tropical flower arrangement for your
room ($10-20) and at the end for last minute shopping. Get some
baroque black pearls there; you will treasure them always...Tahiti had
the most competitive and largest assortment right on the street in
front of the ship.

The second time i took my mom and sis and it was wonderful to see their
delight grow each day..."tahiti..wow!"...then "wait til you see
Moorea"...then "wait til you see Bora Bora! the 15 min. helicopter ride
is awesome if expensive. you will have wonderful photos that look like
postcards!

I also tend to look for 7 day cruises for personal, family reasons; i
prefer not to be gone longer. I sure want to get back there soon!

shawn